Cricket West Indies (CWI) Chief Executive Officer Johnny Grave says the body has identified the need to elevate the profile of groundsmen across the region.

Some cricket pundits have argued that there should be more of an advantage for the West Indies teams when playing at home, especially in the Test format, but the pitches across the region are not being prepared to create a challenge for opponents, and no longer have unique identities.

The ones responsible for ensuring that these pitches are prepared at the right standard are the groundsmen at each venue. But low wages, insufficient training courses regarding the science of pitch curation, and general poor welfare, make it unappealing to many, who still view this as a menial career field in the region, unlike in other places in the world where their counterparts receive better treatment.

"We've got to play a leadership role in that," Grave told the Jamaica Observer recently. "We need to lead on that science, we need to lead in the training, and we need to elevate the role of groundsmen so it's attractive. [We need] people to think about coming out of school [and thinking], 'I want to be a curator.'

Read more at Jamaica Observer

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

Grave is being disingenuous, or maybe is just plain naive.

Literally no one will come out of school and say they wish, or think they wish, to be a curator. The way things work in THIS Caribbean??

Curator is something you get through contacts. Imagine a south guy rocking up to QPCC and announcing his or her intentions. Stewwwps.

Only in places like Oz and the say Nottingham in the UK can you organise a coherent curatorship course to furnish cricket squares and golf courses…while having a potential to earn a decent wage. The army and police aren’t adequately paid.

Notwithstanding all the words from Grave, this is no new thing that’s been discovered. We have known this all along. Everybody in office says it. It’s not the finding as much as the lack of any meaningful planning ( forget even saying ‘actions’ yet).

Words are so easy in a salad.

In reply to Halliwell

The other question is what kind of pitches would suit us.

Fast pitches - we barely have good consistent fast bowlers

Batting pitches - opposition will probably score 600 and leave us fighting to save the game

Spin pitches - our batsmen can't play spin to save their lives

In reply to Narper

Exactly and it is only now that the jokers at CWI are taking this seriously. When Shillingford was fired from his position at the then WICB the old boys network found a job for him supposedly to do exactly this. But then nothing else was heard.

In reply to brians_da_best